In a letter to Trump on Saturday, Aliyev praised the U.S. president for his role in the August 8, 2025, White House summit, where Azerbaijan and Armenia took a major step toward ending their long-running conflict, BreitBart reported.
“Through your determination and steadfast resolve, you succeeded in bringing to an end a conflict that had endured for three decades,” Aliyev wrote, saying the agreement had laid the foundation for reconciliation and a mutually beneficial partnership.
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Aliyev said the peace process was already producing economic results, citing the lifting of restrictions on cargo shipments to Armenia, the beginning of Azerbaijani petroleum exports to the country and the movement of grain and other goods through Azerbaijan.
“We are already witnessing the tangible dividends of peace in the economic, trade, and other spheres,” Aliyev said.
Trump and Aliyev also spoke by phone on Saturday to mark the anniversary. According to the Azerbaijani presidency, the two leaders noted that peace had held over the past year without incidents undermining the agreement.
They also discussed growing economic ties between Azerbaijan and Armenia and progress on the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, or TRIPP.
The planned corridor is intended to connect mainland Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave through Armenia while creating a broader transportation and trade route across the South Caucasus. Azerbaijan’s infrastructure for the project is nearing completion, while the leaders expressed hope that construction on the Armenian section will begin soon.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also marked the anniversary, calling Trump the “President of Peace” and announcing that the Trans-Caspian Enterprise Fund had become operational with $201 million in U.S. government funding.
The fund is designed to attract private investment along the Trans-Caspian Trade Route, also known as the Middle Corridor, which links Central Asia with the Caspian Sea, the South Caucasus and Western markets.
Rubio described TRIPP as a key component of that wider network, saying the corridor could create new commercial opportunities while helping reinforce peace after decades of regional tensions.
The anniversary also highlighted the rapid expansion of U.S.-Azerbaijan relations since the Washington summit.
Aliyev pointed to Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Azerbaijan six months after the agreement and the signing of a Strategic Partnership Charter covering investment, trade, energy, transportation, artificial intelligence and security.
“We can proudly state that Azerbaijan–United States ties have now reached their highest point in the 34-year history of our diplomatic relations,” Aliyev wrote.
He also thanked Trump for extending the waiver of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, a longstanding restriction on certain forms of direct U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan. Aliyev called the move an important step toward what he described as the restoration of historical justice.
Trump has also invited Aliyev to attend the G20 summit in December at Trump National Doral Miami, which the Azerbaijani president described as a sign of Washington’s friendly attitude toward Azerbaijan.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan separately spoke with Aliyev on Saturday. The two leaders credited Trump and the United States with advancing the peace process and reviewed the economic links that have developed since the Washington summit.
Pashinyan described the peace established over the past year as “visible and tangible,” while noting that additional steps remain before the initialed peace agreement can be formally signed and ratified.
Aliyev has repeatedly credited Trump with taking a different approach to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict than previous U.S. administrations.
Speaking last month at the Shusha Global Media Forum, Aliyev described Trump as “a person who loves peace” and “sees peace as an opportunity.” He argued that previous administrations had spent years managing the conflict rather than resolving its underlying issues.
Aliyev said Trump and his team understood Azerbaijan’s concerns, helped convince Armenia that peace was in both countries’ interests and “created such a framework that peace became possible.”
He also praised Trump’s negotiating team, including Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Aryeh Lightstone, saying that “for the first time in my experience, American officials kept their word so strictly.”
Witkoff echoed that message on Saturday, saying Trump’s leadership had made the South Caucasus safer, more prosperous and more stable.
For Aliyev, the anniversary represents more than a milestone in ending a decades-long conflict. He is presenting the past year as the beginning of a broader strategic realignment involving Azerbaijan, Armenia and the United States, with trade, transportation, energy, technology and security increasingly tied to the peace process.
“We remain determined to further expand and enrich with new substance the friendship, strategic partnership, and relations based on mutual trust, respect, and support between Azerbaijan and the United States,” Aliyev wrote.
